


truth hidden in darkness

by gayleb



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Norse Religion & Lore, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blind Loki (Marvel), Blindness, Body Horror, Deaf Clint Barton, Hurt Loki (Marvel), Hurt/Comfort, Mind Control, Psychological Torture, Torture, a bit - Freeform, does it count as comfort if the person comforting you is being mind controlled by you?, harcore angst, kind of?, the snake venom myth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2019-09-14 13:23:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16913643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gayleb/pseuds/gayleb
Summary: Thanos tortures Loki in the void. Not all tortures leave scars.Some do.Aka the snake venom myth told in my own way, where Loki ends up blind for Avengers and I don't really have much of a plan other than that.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lise/gifts).



The venom slowly fell, hitting his eyes with excruciating pain. Each drop burned through layers of tissue like acid, leaving his head burning, the light of the room fading quickly around the edges. He could do nothing to evade the poison falling from above him, his body secured to the jagged rocks beneath him with iron ropes, rubbing his skin raw as he shifted, trying to escape.

His head ached, his eyes burned, yet the acid kept falling. It was never ending, all he could hear was the sound of poison hitting skin, and the sound of it eating away countless layers of tissue from his eyes. He wasn’t sure how long he had been susceptible to this torture, but he was sure that if he was here much longer, his eyes would be completely gone.

His bloody wrists writhed painfully against the bonds as he screamed, the world long since plunged into darkness. He was sure he would go mad in that room, alone, the venom slowly burning away every inch of him. Everything that he was.

Loki thought he had endured the worst of the torture Thanos had given him. Oh how wrong he was. He could handle his bones being broken, his skin being torn off piece by piece, being drowned within an inch of his life, but this-

This was mixing pain and fear together. He could feel the venom, dripping down slowly, agonizingly slowly, yethe was blind to the attack, never able to tell what was lurking in the shadows. The pain was so intense, there was nowhere in his mind he could flee to that the pain would not follow. He was trapped, questioning what was real and what he had imagined. Had he ever survived the void, or was he suffering in Hel, condemned to eternal damnation, no hope of escape?

He heard the door open, footsteps moving closer, and he stopped screaming. The footsteps walked next to to him and stopped, but whoever had entered said nothing, the room was silent, save for the sound of burning flesh and Loki’s laboured breathing.

Suddenly, the sound of liquid hitting a hard surface filled the space. Loki was unable to see what had happened, but the venom was now absent from his eyes, and it seemed to be falling onto some sort of a surface. He knew there must be an ulterior motive for this salvation, but Loki couldn’t stop himself from letting out a small sigh of relief.

“Tell me, Prince of Lies,” came a booming voice that Loki knew all too well from next to him, “What do you see?”

Loki took in a shuddering breath, “Nothing, I-I see nothing. It’s all black, all of it, I can’t see anything-”

“Silence.”

Loki felt a burning sensation on his stomach, spreading down to his abdomen, it was so intense, it would have brought tears to his eyes, if they were still there. He cried out in alarm, the smell of burning flesh filling his nose.

“You never admit a weakness, it only makes you vulnerable. You gave me an answer I did not wish to hear, I gave you pain you did not wish to endure. Don’t disappoint me, and I won’t have to hurt you.”

Shuddering underneath the feeling of a hand stroking his hair, Loki only nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment, but when he felt a splash of venom hitting his chest, he choked out a “Yes, my Lord.”

“Good. Now, I ask you, how did you get here?”

Loki opened his mouth to answer, but he closed it. How had he gotten he here. It had all seemed so clear before, but as the days had passed, as the venom fell, it burned away his flesh along with his memories. He wanted to say he let go, he fell into this godforsaken realm of his own accord, but had he truly let go? Had Thor not thrown him off? Had Odin not watched, congratulating Thor on ridding Asgard of the monster as Loki fell into the void, shouting cries for help that would never be heard.

As Loki lay there on the stone slab, the dark void of his now ruined eyes closing in on him, he could hear Thor’s voice from that night on the Bifrost, echoing in the chamber.

“Loki, you were never worth anyone’s efforts. If it had been up to me, I would have had the Allfather leave you to die on that frozen wasteland as a babe. At least that way none would have to deal with you wayward tricks, or monstrous ways. You think I love you? You think you deserve my love? You deserve nothing but the death that should have slain you as a child,” Thor’s voice was ice cold, and it struck Loki in the heart, choking him, the words weren’t what Loki thought he remembered, but Loki wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t anymore. 

He spoke with a shaking voice, “I-I was thrown, from the Bifrost. By m-my br- by Thor. I fell, through the void, for an eternity, before I was found by you.”

He heard Thanos shift beside him, and he was silent for a moment, before speaking up, “Very good. I’m glad you can finally see the truth.” Loki felt the hand return to his head, gently stroking it in a comforting motion. He let out a sob at the gentle touch, the feeling so foreign, he craved it so deeply, he would do anything just to keep the hand in his hair, gently stroking the loose threads.

“Loki,” Thanos spoke, his voice right next to his ear, his breath warm, “Who do you belong to?”  
He inhaled sharply, his mind racing. Who did he belong to? Asgard had cast him out. He had been thrown into the void by his own bro- not his brother. Never his brother. The world he had grown up in didn’t want him, he was never able to claim to be part of Jotunheim, and after what he did with the Bifrost, any connection his heritage gave him to the frozen land, is gone now. His birth realm, a world of beasts and savages did not wish to claim him, had left him for dead, the realm eternal, Asgard, a place he had called home, the place he had grown up had named him disgrace, he belonged to none. None expect,

“You,” he gasped, “I belong to you and none other.”

The hand moved slowly from his hair to his jaw, stroking his cheek gently with his thumb, before Thanos spoke gently, “That is correct young Asgardian, you belong to me,” the hand tightened painfully around Loki’s jaw, forcing his head back into the stone beneath him, “And never forget it.”

Pain shot through his skull, the worst of it behind his (empty) eyes. He gasped, tears of blood trailing down his cheeks, “I would never, My Lord, Thanos, I will never forget it.” How could he? It had been forced into his mind, unwillingly, time after time. Each torture brought upon him was just a reminder, telling him who he belonged to. Reminding him he had no one else.

“You know what happens if you do,” and oh, how he knew. All the times he had tried to defy him, tried to escape the hell he’d been trapped in, the tortures he’d been disclosed to had taught him better. The first time he had tried to speak out against Thanos, had been the first time they had sewn his lips shut. The first time he tried to escape, was the first time they broke each bone in both of his legs, one by one, before giving him a lash for each step he’d taken while trying to escape. (It had totalled to 104 lashes, he hadn’t gotten far in his escape attempt. He couldn’t move for a week after his punishment) 

Loki never wanted to obey, but experience had taught him to listen to every word Thanos said, never questioning, never mis stepping, lest he face the consequences.

“And finally,” Thanos spoke, his voice low but commanding, his hand pulling away from Loki’s face, “Will you take the tesseract from Midgard, and return it to me?”

He had been asked to do this many times before, and each time, he had denied. He didn’t need more blood of the innocents on his hands, and Loki knew, that innocents would need to die if he was to get the tesseract.

But he was so tired, his body ached, he longed for an escape for the torture that was his existence. If there was any hope of escape, any way he could run, and never look back, this was it. And maybe, if all hope was lost, he could play along, bring Thanos the tesseract, and submit to whatever there was left of this life. What else did he have left to lose?

“I will, my Lord. I will travel to Midgard, and return the tesseract to you, I swear on my life.”

He heard Thanos let out a deep, echoing laugh, “I knew you would see the truth, all it took was clearing the lies from your sight. Now, to prepare you.”

Before Loki could ask what he meant with that statement, he felt searing hot agony in his abdomen, and he heard his skin burning, and at that, he fell into the relief of unconsciousness. 

* * *

He had been molded to perfection, no corner of his mind had been left untouched. Loki could still feel wisps of the mind gem’s power, swirling around in his mind, blurring his thoughts, confusing what was right and what was wrong.

His eyes had never healed from the cave. He had been brought to his old cell after he had agreed to find the tesseract, and that was when the true torture had begun. 

His mind had been ripped apart with the mind stone, time after time, his thoughts had been altered, his memories changed, his fears, his desires, none were his own. No part of his mind was truly his when Thanos was done for him.

But it was all for his own good. It was to make him stronger. To make sure he didn’t fail on Midgard. 

Loki had to take the realm for his own, ensure that they bowed to his will, to make sure the tesseract ended up in his hands with no resistance. No matter how much he disliked the idea of innocents dying, there was no other way to ensure the tesseract was delivered to Thanos without protest.

He had adjusted to life without sight in the months after he had lost his eyes. It was different, not being able to see a threat before it attacked him, but Loki made do. He used his magic as a crutch, used it to sense the auras of everything around him. He used his magic as his eyes.

Loki didn’t need his eyes. Not if Thanos said he didn’t.

He stood in front of the portal, the chitauri army he would eventually lead to conquer Midgard was preparing at that very moment. He was waiting for the order to walk through the portal, walk into Midgard, and put his plan into action.

This was what he had been training for for months. Years and years of torture had all been leading up to this moment. He should feel pride, burning deep in his chest. He should be excited, happy.

Yet all he felt was sorrow, and shame. He felt regret, for the lives that he had not yet taken, and the words he had not yet said. Deep down, he didn’t want to do this, he knew, another him, in another life, another world, would never dream of doing this. He knew Thor would never do this, would never break under the pain, would never agree to do someone else’s dirty work.

But this was what he had been made for. His whole life had molded him for this moment, and he was not going to mess up. He was not going to be weak. He couldn’t afford to be weak.

Loki heard The Other’s voice in his mind, commanding him to start his mission. Taking a deep breath, Loki walked towards the portal, using his magic to sense the portals magical aura to locate it.

He stopped just in front of it, closing his unseeing eyes, (they never did heal properly. They grew back scarred, dull, lifeless, unseeing. Useless.) calming his racing mind. One last thought crossed his mind, before he stepped through the portal, and into the world he meant to conquer.

I’ll never get to see the world I’m meant to bring to ruins. 

* * *

When the man had first stepped from the portal, holding a glowing scepter in one hand, his body slightly trembling, the first thing everyone in the room noticed were his eyes.

The skin around his eyes were covered in scars that looked as if they had been caused by some sort of chemical, and smaller scars similar to the ones around his eyes could be seen all around his face. But the most off putting part were his actual eyes. They were a murky grey, with a faint hint of what could have once been green, but similar to the skin around them, the eyes were covered in scars that looked as if they were from something that had burned them. Clint didn’t even know if that was possible.

He knew for sure that whoever this man was, he couldn’t see at all.

“Sir, please put down the spear.”

The man’s head turned immediately to face Fury, the hand gripping the spear tightening, the skin on his knuckles turning white from how hard he was holding onto the spear. Clint could tell the situation was already going downhill, and whoever this guy was didn’t look like he was going to be backing down.

Suddenly, the man aims the spear in front of him, and fires some sort of energy blast towards where Fury was. Most people moved quickly out of the blast range, some being hit by the edge of the blast, thrown into various objects.

Whoever he is, he stays where he was, closing his eyes, as if he were listening to everyone around him. Clint could see the barest flicker of green around his hands. He pushed himself to his feet, watching for what he was going to do next, pulling his bow out, nocking an arrow and drawing it back, aiming for his chest.

The ring of gunfire echoed throughout the room, several of the agents had pulled their guns out and had all fired at the man, but their bullets just went straight through him, the image of the man flickering, then disappearing altogether. All Clint could think, while staring at the spot the man had previously been standing in just moments ago, was what the actual fuck?

Before he could think anything else, the man suddenly appeared in front of him, the scepter held in front of him, the tip placed directly over Clint’s heart. Fear clawed at Clint’s throat, as he stared into the man’s damaged eyes. The man moved his eyes to meet Clint’s and he jerked back, shocked at how he had known. He was blind for god's sake!

The man grabbed Clint’s hand, pulling him closer until their faces were inches apart, the point of the scepter digging into his chest, the stranger’s breath uneven and struggling on each inhale. He smiled, looking at Clint with his unseeing eyes, “You have heart.”

Suddenly, the world exploded into blue light, his head throbbed, and his bones ached. It felt as if someone had poured molten lava throughout all his veins, burning him from the inside out. His thoughts were blurring, the world around him becoming unclear, until-

He blinked, looking at the world around him in a new light. He had a mission, he had a master, he was here to follow orders, SHIELD would only try to stop him. All that mattered was Loki.

Loki his mind thought blearily, behind the thoughts that had been shoved into his head, forced into his mind against his will, so that’s the bastards name.

Clint watched as the room exploded into flames, he watched as the agents enemies were shot down, one by one. He stood there in silence, waiting for orders. He was made to serve, and serve he would.

Clint knew people were talking around him, but no one was talking to him, he wasn’t needed. The blue overtook his mind, his thoughts, he couldn’t focus on anything around him, his vision starting to blur. In the back of his mind, he wondered if he was going to pass out.

“Sir,” he hears himself speak up, not fully in control of his mouth, “Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow. Drop a few feet of rock on us,” he pauses, pondering his words, “He means to bury us.”

He wasn’t sure how he knew all this, considering the pulsing in his head was distracting him from almost everything around him, but the words felt right as they came from his mouth, and he knew it was something Fury would do.

The fog had lifted from his thoughts, and he heard Selvig confirm his accusation, Fury looked, well, furious. Loki turned to him, his eyes looking just to the left of his head.

“Well then,” he spoke, his voice rough, but the message clear enough. Without hesitation, Clint brought his gun up, aimed it at the Director, and shot. Somewhere in his head, his mind was screaming at him, wake up! This isn’t right! But all he could feel was the grimm satisfaction of a job well done.

Clint grabbed the tesseract as he and Selvig followed Loki, walking out of the room as debris fell around them. Loki stumbled, tripping on bits of rubble scattered on the floor, and it looked as if he was going to fall, but each time he regained his balance, and he kept walking, leaving the burning facility behind them.

They walked into the parking garage, Loki using the scepter for support as he walked. Clint gently grabbed his arm, his vision clouded with blue, when suddenly-

All he could feel was searing pain as his mouth filled with blood, dripping down his throat, filling his lungs as he tried to scream, the only noise he could make was a strangled whine. Blood spilled over his lips, he looked down at his bloody hand, clutching his own tongue, listened to his own voice trying to scream through all the blood, drowning in it.

He was slammed back into his own head as Loki tried to pull away, but Clint held on firmly, leading him to a truck near the end of the garage, with only a slight stumble to his steps. Selvig following close behind them.

The leather beneath his fingers was thick, but not thick enough to cover how thin his arm was. He could feel the bone through the leather, and what little muscle there was. Clint looked down at the limb with concern, wondering when he had last eaten. 

Clint watched as Maria Hill walked towards them, hand hovering over the gun on her hip, eyes weary, as Selvig and Clint helped Loki climb into the back of the truck.

“We need these vehicles.”

Maria raised an eyebrow, looking at Loki, “Who’s that?”

Clint shrugged, “He didn’t tell me,” the lie easily sliding off of his tongue. He turned and walked to the drivers seat of the truck, Selvig sitting in the passenger's side, and turned the car on, starting to drive away.

Maria turned to leave, but she stopped, pulling out her radio. She turned, quickly pulling the gun from it’s hollister, and shot at the car, aiming for it’s tires. Clint swore loudly, swerving the car as he sped up, trying to leave the garage as fast as he could.

A bullet bounced off the drivers side mirror as he drove out of the complex, once they were out onto the open road, Clint sped up, driving towards one of his safe houses, to give their ‘team’ time to catch their breaths.

He hears a thud from the back of the truck, and both he and Selvig whip their heads around, looking at Loki as he tries to push himself into a sitting position from where he fell.

“Boss,” Clint said, concern evident in his voice, “Are you ok? Should I pull over?”

“No,” Loki’s voice came from the back, distant and cold. He sounded as if he were in pain, taking short quick breaths and clutching his head with both hands, “Keep driving, no matter what. We can’t stop for anything.”

Clint wanted to protest, he wanted to stop the care and make sure his boss was ok, he wanted to help him, but that would be disobeying orders. That wasn’t allowed. Loki never told him not to disobey him, but he knew, words, echoing in the back of his mind, he would pay the price for disobeying.

There was nothing left to do but drive, so that’s what Clint did. He kept his eyes on the road, ignoring the sounds of retching coming from behind him. The sounds of the car almost hid it, but Clint’s hearing aids picked every little sound up. 

Right now, he wished they didn’t.

Keeping his eyes glued to the windshield, he sped up, the need to get Loki somewhere safe only grew with each mile that passed. 

* * *

Both Clint and Selvig hovered behind Loki as he stumbled through the door of the safehouse, wavering on his own two feet. They both voiced their concerns towards his health, but were only met with disregard and reassurance that he would be fine. He looked as far from fine as someone could be and still be alive.

Clint wasn’t even sure he was alive at this point.

He rushed forward as Loki’s foot caught the corner of a chair, sending the god tumbling to the ground, and it didn’t look like he was getting up any time soon.

“Sir, please, you need to rest. We won’t be able to do much of anything with you in this state.”

Loki’s clouded eyes searched the room, trying to find Clint’s face with no success, and settled on a spot just above his right shoulder. He opened his mouth, presumably to protest, then shut it, clutching his head in his hands.

“I can’t, I have to keep going. No matter what happens to me, I can’t- I can’t afford to stop, to rest- this is my last chance, I can’t fail now-”

His voice grew with panic the more he spoke, his eyes growing wide, his body tensing. His gaze shifted to the right slightly, his breathing started to quicken, his hands clenching at his sides. Clint rushed forward, grabbing Loki’s arm to ground him, when suddenly-

There was screaming, so loud, so intense, it filled every corner of his mind. All of his thoughts, all of his memories, were screams, of pain, of terror, of desperation. At first he thought they were coming from someone else, but then he felt the pain in his throat, the quick intake of breath, and it continued. It never stopped. The screams consumed him, until he gave in.

Clint lurched forward, gasping for air. He could still hear distant screams in the back of his mind, echoing, haunting his thoughts, never giving him a moment of peace-

He inhaled sharply, looking to where Loki sat in front of him, curling into himself, cluting his head with the hand that wasn’t held in Clint’s own hands. He took a deep breath, clearing his mind as best he could, and sat gently in front of Loki, grasping his shoulders in his hands.

The screams grew louder in his mind, tearing at his thoughts, trying to pull him back under, into their trance, but Clint held strong, and looked at Loki even if he wasn’t able to see it, because it helped Clint stay in the present, instead of falling into memories of the past that weren’t his own.

“Loki, you need to listen to me,” he spoke in a firm voice. He spoke quietly so he didn’t startle the god or give him cause to attack, “Listen to my voice, you’re not going to fail. You’re safe here, ok? Can you try and slow your breathing for me?”

“I can’t,” Loki started, the words falling out, uncontrolled and unstoppable in his panicked state of mind, the words kept spilling out, “I can’t breathe, I can’t talk, I can’t see,” he looked around the room with wide eyes, searching frantically for somethic, anything, but of course, all he would find is darkness. His voice rose in panic, “I can’t see.”

Loki’s hands gripped his hair tightly, fingers digging into his scalp hard enough to draw blood, and Clint grabbed them gently, guiding them down into his lap.

“Loki, listen to my voice, you’re fine, you’re safe here. I made sure of it. Just take some deep breaths for me, alright? You’re alright,” Clint spoke softly, trying his best to soothe the man, “You’re safe with me.”

Loki shook his head, gripping his knees, “Never safe, nowhere is safe, they’ll find me wherever I go, they’ll make me- make me long for something sweet as pain-”

He cut off abruptly lurching to the side and coughing up a mixture of bile and blood. His body shook with each cough, the force throwing him forwards onto his hands.

Clint rushed forwards, placing a hand on Loki’s shoulder, rubbing it soothingly, trying to calm the shaking god. 

“It’s alright boss, deep breaths, try and calm down.”

Loki gave a final cough, before going limp, Clint barely catching him before he hit the floor.

Carrying to man in his arms, he could feel bones in places he really shouldn’t be able to, and thoughts of how to get Loki to eat once he awoke started forming in his mind.

He placed the god in the bed upstairs, listening to Selvig work downstairs. Pulling the blanket up to his shoulders, Clint decided there was nothing else he could do to help in the situation.

He grabbed a chair from the desk, pulling it up next to the bed and sat down heavily, letting out a deep sigh as he sat down. He rubbed his hand over his face trying to keep himself awake, and when he looked down at the hand, it was stained red with blood.

Clint blinked, looking at his hand again it was clean. He shook his head, and looked back at the unconscious god on the bed.

He couldn’t afford to fail.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki has been captured, and a new player is added to the field.

Steve considered himself a man with morales.

He would always strive to do the right thing, pushing others to follow in his footsteps. He tried to always make the ethical choice, only fighting the people who truly deserved it.

That was why he was so conflicted about the current fight.

Loki was evil, Steve knew that. He had practically screamed his plans of world domination to all of New York, explaining his next move right before executing them. It had set Steve on edge if he was being honest, but he couldn’t focus on those feelings. Loki was hurting people. He had hurt Steve’s friend, Agent Barton. Loki was a bad guy.

But most truly evil people weren’t blind, burn scars decorating the skin around their eyes. Most villains committing crimes for their own gain didn’t look so ill. 

Most villains who truly wanted to win didn’t give tell their enemies their plans before implementing them.

It was all of these factors that made Steve’s stomach churn as he stood here in Germany, staring a god in the eyes knowing full well that they couldn’t see him. He watched as Loki looked at nothing in particular, trying to locate Steve based on sound alone, but it was too loud, there was no way he would be able to distinguish Steve from all the other people running around them.

Silently, Steve approached the man, shield raised defensively. He could only see the faintest wisps of green around Loki’s hands before the man spun around, facing Steve head on.

“Loki, please. We don’t have to fight. You can come quietly, we can talk about this. Nobody has to get hurt,” Steve tried to reason, keeping his voice level as he approached, eyes focused on the staff held in the gods shaking hand.

Loki’s eyes (if Steve could still call them that. Husks seemed more accurate.) looked around wildly, darting from side to side, blind thought they may be. He gripped the staff tighter, green smoke enveloping his hands, taking a few steps towards Steve on shaking legs.

His eyes tried to find Steve’s, settling his dull gaze just above Steves mouth. He took a strained inhale, and in a small voice, whispered, “What if someone already has?”

The words echoed inside his head as he tried to process them. What if somebody already has, what was that supposed to mean? Had Loki hurt somebody else? Someone Steve knew? One of the Avengers?

Thoughts raced through his mind as he heard the sound of repulsors firing in the distance, quickly growing closer. Loki was looking around, trying to find where the sound was coming from. Green began to cover his hands before a red blur slammed into him, throwing him back into a pile of rubble.

Steve let out a startled shout as he watched the man get thrown back, and stared in shock, his mouth agape as Iron Man walked out of the cloud of dust, heading towards him brushing some dust off of his suit.

“Hey there Capsicle, saw you having a nice chat with Reindeer Games over here, thought I would drop in, add my two cents,” he paused to look at the spot Loki had been thrown, dust settling around the pile of debris, “I don’t really think he’s in the chatting mood anymore.”

All Steve could think about were the words Loki spoke before being struck down by Tony. His voice shook with fear, he spoke so quietly, almost as if not to draw any attention to himself. He had acted like some of the guys Steve had seen during the war, paranoid that they were being followed by some of the enemy soldiers. Most of them went mad, and ended up killing themselves after the war, but some of them got distracted during a fight, and well, it wasn’t pretty.

Steve didn’t like thinking about that time.

He shook himself out of his thoughts, nodding to Tony in acknowledgement and walking towards where he saw Loki crumple, crouching down next to his body.

He seemed completely unresponsive, his eyes closed and breathing slightly strained, his body covered in dust and some debris from the crash. Steve could see some blood staining the armour beneath the stone, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it right now.

He lightly touched the scars covering the gods eyes, frowning slightly at the damage done to his face. Looking at the scars now, while the god wasn’t blowing anything up, it was almost beautiful, in its own, deranged way. The scarring around Loki’s eyes painted some sort of demented mask, a blindfold he has no choice but to wear.

If Steve had time later, it would be something he would try to recreate in his sketchbook, but for now, he scooped an unconscious Loki up in his arms, surprisingly easily for all of the god’s height (seriously, how much did this guy eat?), and walked back towards Tony.

“I’ve got him contained.”

Tony crossed his arms, “I can see that Spangles, no need to sound so excited about it,” Steve just rolled his eyes, adjusting his grip, “Aw c’mon oh Captain My Captain, I’m just joking around,” but his voice sounded distinctly more serious once he got a good look at Loki’s face. Tony started rambling, shifting nervously from foot to foot.

“I mean, we’re done here right? We caught the big bad villain, and we can go and throw him in prison for god knows how long -ha, god, kind of ironic- and we can dust off our hands and call it a job well done. SHIELD has got clean up duty covered, right? Because I don’t think I can-”

“Tony,” Steve interrupted the inventor’s ramblings, “We should get out of here, get him somewhere secure.”

“Right, right,” Tony said, drumming his fingers against the leg of his suit, “Natasha should be landing the jet in a minute, we’ll fly him over to the SHIELD HQ, get him nice and snug in a containment cell, and call it a job well done.”

Steve didn’t bother replying, just watched as the quinjet landed, a cloud of dust rising from the ground forcing Steve to look away. He took a deep breath and looked to Tony, motioning with his head towards the jet.

“Well then, let’s get out of here.”

* * *

The Avengers sat around a table in one of the many conference rooms on the Helicarrier, unsure of what to do next. They had just finished putting Loki in the Hulk containment cell (it was the only one they didn’t think he could immediately get out of) and they weren’t sure what to do next.

“I mean, we could try and-” Steve started to speak, but was cut off by a loud clap of thunder from outside the ship. He frowned, looking out of one of the windows, staring at the rain that had started pouring intensely.

“I didn’t think it was supposed to rain today,” Bruce said quietly, looking up from the StarkPad held in front of him.

A streak of lightning flashed outside the window, and thunder 

There was a moment of silence, then the entire helicarrier shook.

A loud voice came booming from outside on the deck, “WHERE IS MY BROTHER?”

The Avengers shared a nervous glance, Tony about to speak up asking about who was outside, but before he could open his mouth, the door to the conference room slammed open, a tall, strong, very angry man stormed in.

“I ask this once and only onc mortals, where have you placed my brother?”

“Whoa whoa whoa Point Break, let’s take things slow, ok?” Tony said, standing up and walking around the table, standing a few feet away from the man, hands raised. He couldn’t help but feel as if he’d seen him somewhere, from some SHIELD file he’d read when he wasn’t supposed to. “First of all, who are you, and why would we have your brother?”

The man stood up straighter, holding his hands in front of him (making Tony notice the giant hammer he was holding in one of them as if it weighed nothing) speaking in a polite, if almost annoyed, tone, “I am Thor, son of Odin. I come from Asgard to retrieve my brother. I received word from our gatekeeper that he saw my brother on Midgard, and that you had taken him into custody, so my Father gifted me the task of bringing him home.”

“Wait, Thor? From Asgard?” Natasha asked, staring at him with a blank face. Thor nodded his agreement, and Natasha continued, “You were the one in Puente Antiguo a year or so ago,” more of a statement than a question.

“Aye,” Thor nodded again, “‘Twas I. I had been banished, and winded up in that town.”

Natasha nodded once he finished speaking, but didn’t say anything further on the matter. Thor took her silence as an invitation to continue, “May I now see my brother? I wish only to take him home and leave your realm in peace.”

“We’re talking about Loki right?” Steve asked, looking at everyone gathered in the room in confusion. He sat back in his chair when Thor confirmed his question, nodding along with the rest of the conversation.

“Thor, buddy, I’m afraid it’s a little late for you to ‘leave this realm in peace’. At least if you plan on taking good ol’ crazy pants with you,” Tony said, regaining his abandoned seat at the table, motioning for thor to follow suit.

Thor sat down angrily, hammer slamming on the table with a thud. “And why, pray tell,” he said through gritted teeth,”May we not leave this realm in peace?”

The Avengers shared a worried glance. The last thing they needed right now was for the god of thunder to go all revenge mode on them for containing his psycho brother. 

None of the Avengers really wanted to try and explain to Thor why they had imprisoned his sibling, and were all waiting for one another to speak up first. Bruce spoke up after a moment of silence, clearing his throat and placing his tablet on the table.

“W-well, Thor, Loki hasn’t exactly been the,” He trailed off, looking for the right word, “Most law abiding person since he arrived on Earth.”

Bruce mentally face palmed once he finished speaking, Tony actually face palmed.

Thor looked confused at the sentence, staring at each of the Avengers with a mix of grief and anger.

“Look, Thor,” Steve started gently, “We can’t just, let Loki go. He’s caused a lot of damage on Earth. He’s killed people. We can’t just forgive him for that, and we can’t just let him go without ensuring he faces the proper punishment for his actions.”

Tony silently thanked any gods (who weren’t Thor or Loki) that at least one member of their team could be reasonable. Steve seemed to get through to Thor, because the look of anger Thor had worn since he’d first arrived vanished, and was replaced with one of grief, or exhaustion.

“I understand, my friends. May I just make one request?”

An uneasy glance was passed between the Avengers, before Steve spoke up, “Of course Thor, What is it?”

“May I just see him, once more? I would like to speak with him, I wish to know where he has been,” Thor said, hands fidgeting in his lap.

Before Steve could answer, Tony let out a short laugh, leaning back in his chair, “Kind of ironic choice of words, am I right?”

Tony elaborated at the blank stare Thor gave him, ignoring the glares the other Avengers were shooting him, “Yknow, the whole blind thing? Can’t really go ‘see’ someone if they can’t see. Well, I guess you can see him, but that’s besides the point-”

He would have said more, whether he wanted to or not, the image of burnt, sightless eyes forcing his mouth to speak, but he was cut of by Thor’s hands slamming on the table as he stood, the chair tumbling to the floor behind him.

“What do you mean, mortal, when you speak of his ‘sightless eyes’? What have you done to my brother?” Thor spoke, his voice growing louder with each word so he was screaming by the end of his question. 

The Avengers looked at Thor in confusion before Natasha spoke up, “You mean Loki wasn’t blind the last time you saw him?”

Thor shook his head, gripping the edge of the table with so much force his knuckles started turning white, “Nay, my friends. The last time I saw my brother his vision was very much in tact. But then,” he paused, his gaze turning to the floor, his grip on the table loosening slightly, “Then we lost him to the void. For the past 2 years, all of Asgard has thought him dead. 

I was overjoyed to hear he still lived and was on Midgard, but now I fear what may have happened in his time in the void.” Thor finished, his shoulders slumping, he let out a long sigh.

Tony looked at the Avengers seated at the table, then back to the god, standing in front of them, a look of grief and defeat set on his face, and he made up his mind.

“Well, what are we waiting for,” he said with a clap, “Let’s reunite some siblings!”

* * *

The other Avengers had been skeptical of Tony’s idea at first. They didn’t think anything good could come of the two gods meeting, but Thor’s hopeful face, and Tony’s insistence that nothing would go wrong, that they might even learn something from the psycho they were currently holding captive, finally managed to sway the Avengers.

So they found themselves introducing themselves to the God of Thunder on their way down to the containment cell that held the man’s younger sibling, who just so happened to be a war criminal.

Tony was just finishing up some story about how he created one of his robots, that involved a lot of hand gestures, when they came to door that would lead them to Loki’s cell. They stopped in front of the door, none of them moving to head inside.

“Y’know Thor, buddy, I think this is something you should do on your own,” Tony said, giving the god a pat on the shoulder, motioning to the door with his head.

Thor just stood there in front of the door, staring blankly at it, not saying anything, and not making any motion to head inside. The Avengers all waited silently for the man to do something, but he just stood there, waiting.

Suddenly, he took a step forward, Tony’s hand falling from his shoulder. He let out a shaky breath, and placed a hand on the door, turning to look at the Avengers, “Aye, thank you, my friends. I shall talk with him, and try and figure out what has transpired to cause Loki to act so.”

And with that, he pushed the door open, walking through the door, letting it slam shut behind him, leaving the Avengers in the hallway, concern evident on all of their faces, before they turned and walked back to the conference room, Stark already pulling the video feed up on one of his StarkPads.

 

On the other side of the door, Thor took a careful step inside, stopping as soon as he saw the figure crumpled on the floor of the cell. He felt his eyebrows scrunch together in concern and confusion, and he took another silent step forward as to not startle Loki.

Looking closer, he could see Loki was curled in on himself, almost protectively. He was shifting ever so slightly in his unconsciousness, as if he were in some sort of discomfort.

He started to walk forward again, but Loki sat up quickly, a scream barely escaping his mouth before being muffled by his hands covering his mouth. He sat on the floor of his cell, panting, shoulders slightly trembling, and Thor’s concern only grew. Whatever drove Loki to this state could only be bad news.

Thor took a few steps forward, stopping a few feet from the cell, when Loki jumped, his head turning to face Thor, looking around wildly.

Thor felt sick at the sight he was met with. At the face of his younger brother.

The face that had been mutilated almost past recognition, his eyes completely burnt away with some type of acid, the skin around them charred and black.

Thor felt himself falter at the sight of his brother. His younger, smaller, brother, whom he was supposed to protect. You let this happen a voice in the back of his mind whispered, but he pushed the thought to the side. He couldn’t afford to think like that. Not now.

Not when his brother needed him.

“Who’s there?” Loki called out, his breathing somewhat controlled, but his voice sounded raw, nothing like the smooth sound it used to be. Loki used to pride himself on his voice, on his words, and the way he could talk anyone into doing anything. It pained Thor to hear what his brother's voice had become.

“Brother,” Thor said, stumbling forward the last few steps to the cell, pressing a hand to the glass, “Loki it’s me, your brother. I’ve come to take you home.”

Loki scoffed, placing his shaking hands in his lap, looking up from where he sat on the floor in Thor’s general direction, his dead stare resting on his right shoulder, “I have not known home for a long time, Odinson.”

“Loki-” Thor choked out, everything about his brother was off. He was acting so different from the last time Thor had seen him, and Thor couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to him, to change his brother so drastically. 

“Loki, please, tell me, who has done this to you? Something has obviously happened to you, let me help you, we can fix this together-”

Thor was cut off by his brothers cold tone before he could finish his sentence, any reassurance he would’ve spoken, dying on his tongue, “Who did this to me Thor? Who did this,” Loki spat, gesturing to the burnt remains of his eyes with a still shaking hand, “to me?”

He let out a short, forced laugh, bringing the hand up to tug gently at his hair, “Oh that is a question indeed. But tell me Thor, how can you be so sure someone did this to me?” he sat up slowly, pushing himself onto unsteady feet, eyes somehow finding Thors, which only added to his discomfort.

“How can you be sure that I didn’t do this to myself? That I didn’t pour acid onto my own face, withstood the pain of my eyes being burnt away to nothing, just to manipulate you? Just to make you feel sorry for me, only to turn on you when you least expect it,” Loki spoke the words with pure venom in his voice, his face twisted into one of pure hatred.

He moved faster than Thor could ever remember him being able to, his face was inches from the glass in front of Thor’s, hands balled into fists pressed into the glass, “How do you know your little Avenger friends,” he spoke the words with so much hatred and disgust, it honestly scared Thor, “didn’t do this to me?”

Thor’s horrified expression only encouraged Loki to continue, “Oh did you not think about that? Couldn’t even comprehend that your friends might not be as pure or heroic as you’ve made them out to be.

“What if I told you your mortal friends strapped me down, burnt my eyes to useless husks. Never stopping, never relenting, even as I screamed out in agony, as my wrists broke in the bonds used to contain me as I tried to escape, the pain to much, so unbearable. And throughout it all, I was calling out for one person, the one person I think might be able to save me-”

“Loki please.”

“I scream for my brother, I cry out for him into the darkness. Always darkness, always eating away at my soul. I called out for you, hoping you could save me from the torture, hoping you could-”

“ENOUGH LOKI,” Thor cried, slamming a fist down on the glass of the cage, taking deep breaths in through his nose, trying to calm his churning stomach.

The only sound that remained in the room was Loki’s quiet laughter, echoing off the walls of his cell as he backed up towards the middle of the cell, his hand pulling at his hair again.

“Loki,” he said softly, not trusting his voice much at the moment, “Loki, brother, you were gone for 2 years. We thought you dead, and you show up here on Midgard, alive and,” he paused, “here.” 

Loki laughed, and oh how Thor hated that sound. It used to be a sound Thor loved to hear, a sound he actively tried to hear whenever he could, because his brother rarely laughed, truly laughed, especially as adolescents. His laughter now was not meant for anyone's joy or amusement, not even his own. It was meant to mock and hurt.

“Why would you care about what happened to me, or where I’ve been? You never asked where I was when I would disappear from Asgard for months at a time, you’d just assume I was off ‘visiting other realms’, so why do you care now?”

“Loki, please,” Thor said, placing his hand gently on the glass, even though it really didn’t matter, because Loki wouldn’t be able to see it, “I care. I’m sorry if it seems like I never cared about you, I truly am, I never meant for it to be like that. I want to help you, but I can’t if I don’t know what has happened to you.”

Loki froze, his spine rigid, every muscle in his body tense. Thor could see from where he was standing that Loki was barely breathing. He said nothing for a few moments, then suddenly started speaking, his voice full of the same rage as before.

“You wish to know where I was? Where I have been? All of my life, I have lived in your shadow, unable to escape to darkness,” Loki laughs another short, humorless laugh, “It seems I will never be able to escape the dark.”

He started pacing, walking back and forth in the cell, hands picking at each other in front of him (he got that from Mother, Thor thinks in the back of his mind) and then he starts speaking again.

“I was tossed out of Asgard. Thrown out as if I were nothing. I fell, and I kept falling, until I thought my body wouldn’t be able to take it anymore. I thought I would break apart at the seams, the void ripping me apart from the inside out.

Then I landed on a broken, desolate moon, void of all life. It was almost poetic, a broken world for a broken prince.”

Thor watched his brother pace with confusion and heartbreak evident on his face. He was almost glad his brother was blind, for he would almost certainly mock him for the amount of emotion he was displaying right now.

Or, at least the old Loki would.

“Brother,” Thor said, ignoring how wet his voice sounded, “Brother, what has happened to you? Why are you doing this to Midgard, you have never shown any interest in their realm,” Loki stopped his pacing, but didn’t even try to look at Thor, “What has happened to you?”

“Oh, what’s wrong Thor?” Loki spoke softly, voice dripping with sarcasm, and a hint of something darker underneath, “are you worried about what happened to your favourite toy? You dropped and it broke, and no one can put it back together again? Let me ask you a question, brother dearest, why do you care?”

Thor actually flinched back at that, horrified at everything his brother was saying. He wanted to respond, wanted to say something to defend himself, and reassure Loki, but he was frozen, watching Loki as he started pacing through the cell again, one of his hands dragging along the glass beside him, leaving the faintest trail of blood in its wake.

Following the blood with his eyes, Thor was led to his brother’s fingernails, more specifically, his lack thereof. 

The sight only added to his growing horror.

Loki didn’t stop his verbal attack, his voice even more cutting than before, “Since when have you ever cared about my feelings Thor? When have you ever even taken into consideration what I felt. Since when have you ever cared about anyone but yourself?”

He punched the glass as he finished the sentence, the noise echoing between them, the only other sound being Loki’s laboured breathing and Thor’s quiet gasp.

Thor finally seemed to regain his senses, and he walked back towards the glass, partially leaning on it for support, “Loki please, I beg of you, hear me now. I never meant for you to feel that way, I love you, and have always loved you.”

Loki’s response was so quiet, so subdued compared to his previous outburst, Thor had almost missed it. Almost, but not quiet.

“How can you love a monster?”

Thor fell silent at that, unsure of how to respond without angering Loki further. He watched Loki curl into himself further in the cell, as if to comfort himself. Alone.

Before he could think about what he was doing, Thor was moving on silent feet towards the door to Loki’s cell. He placed his hand on the scanner next to the door, and it opened silently, closing behind him as he stepped inside.

He took a quiet step towards Loki, his back facing Thor, arms still wrapped around himself, “Loki, please, who has done this to you?”

Immediately Loki froze up, his back going rigid and his arms tightening around himself. The suddenly, without warning, Loki starts screaming.

He falls to his knees, turning to face Thor, backing up until he hits the wall of his cell as he does, still screaming. Thor just stands there, frozen, unsure what set this off.

“Get out get out get out GET OUT,” Loki screamed, hands gripping painfully at his hair, knees coming up to his chest, trying to make him seem as small as possible.

Thor takes a step closer but Loki only starts screaming louder, his words becoming slightly more undefinable, and Thor can’t take anymore of it, he turns on his heel, fleeing the room, leaving his brother in the cell, his screams echoing behind him as he leaves.

* * *

Thor had come back almost as pale as his brother, which was slightly concerning, considering just how damn pale his brother was. No one failed to notice the gods slightly shaking hands, but if no one commented on them, it wasn’t brought up.

The god took at seat at the table with the other Avengers, the video feed of Loki’s cell disappearing from the middle of the table.

No one spoke.

“Well,” Steve cleared his throat, breaking the silence in the room, “I think we were able to learn at least a bit from the conversation.”

Tony nodded and Natasha gave a small ‘hm’ but the group fell into a tense silence yet again.

It set Tony on edge, if he was honest.

He knew it was crazy, but the way they were all acting, wary and cautious, it felt as if Loki had somehow gotten to them all, even trapped inside the cage. And Tony absolutely hated it.

He hated feeling this helpless, and somehow Loki managed to do just that, even while being their prisoner.

“Why don’t I try talking to him?”

Everyone turned to look at Tony, and he hated all the attention, despite what everyone tended to think about him. Sure, he loved when people saw him for his accomplishments and what he did for the world, but he hated when people stared at him.

“I mean, I just thought that since Thunder Thighs over here didn’t really get much useful information, no offense Point Break,” he added on quickly at the glare he received from Thor, “But all I’m saying is, we might get some more info if somebody Loki doesn’t have, ah, history with asked him the questions.”

Natasha gave him a blank stare, before nodding, leaning back slightly in her chair, “Makes sense,” she said, crossing her arms, “Thor was probably too close to him, it sparked an unwanted emotional response. And you twow,” she pointed to Tony, “Are actually kind of similar, if you look past the whole ‘crazy psycho trying to take over Earth’ aspect of the guy.”

Tony stood up, giving a slight gasp placing a hand on his chest, “I am not at all like him, why I am absolutely appalled you would even imply such a thing.”

Bruce gave a small chuckle, and Steve just smiled at the two, Thor staying silent. “I wish you luck, my friend,” Thor said, voice sombre, “I hope you find out more than I was able to, I just ask one thing of you.”

Tony looked at Thor, his eyebrows furrowing, “Sure thing bud, what is it?”

Thor took a deep breath, closing his eyes before asking, “I ask that you not treat my brother too harshly. I am aware he has done grievous things to your realm, and they can not be excused, but I truly believe that not all is well with him,” he took a moment to calm down and let his breaths even out, trying to control the shaking in his voice, “Loki is not a bad person, and I am unsure why he has chosen to commit this terrible deed, but I ask that you trust me on this, please.”

The other Avengers were silent, and Tony just watched Thor, sitting there with his hands in his laps, staring at a spot on the table in front of him.

“Sure Thor,” he said, barely audible, “Anything for you.”

10 minutes later, Tony found himself walking into the room Loki was being contained in, an earpiece in just so he had a connection to the other Avengers and JARVIS at all times as a precaution, but other then that, he was completely alone and unarmed.

Watching the god just sitting in the cell, eyes closed, hands pressed firmly together in his lap, sent shivers up Tony’s spine, but he walked into the room, standing in front of the cell, and took a deep breath.

He knocked on the cell, startling the god out of whatever voodoo trance he had been in, calling out to him, “Hey there Reindeer Games, since you scared your brother off, the team decided to send me in to keep you company, so, lucky you!”

Tony could see the god’s breathing quicken, before he seemed to realise what was being said to him, and the look of panic morphed into a look of anger.

“If I did not wish to speak with my brother, what makes you think I would wish to speak to some mortal?”

Tony gasped slightly, a hand coming up to rest on his chest, “First of all, that was rude. Words like that can really hurt a guy’s feelings, y’know? Second of all, you might think I’m just some lowly mortal, but a lot of people have looked past what I’m truly capable of, and I’d suggest not making the same mistake.”

Loki stood up, starting to pace in the cell, hands picking at each other in front of him, “Why even bother coming yourself? Do you not have machines to watch me for you? Ensure I am not up to anything devious?” he smirked as he spoke the last word.

Tony shrugged, “I just thought I’d keep you company, make sure you didn’t get too lonely.”

Loki scoffed at that, rolling his eyes (at least Tony thinks that’s what he did) before saying, “I am sure you could find much more useful things to do with your time, than staying here with me, wasting your time rambling on.”

“And what else could I be doing that’s oh so important?” Tony asked, unable to keep the smirk from his voice.

“Oh, I could think of a number of things,” Loki paused his pacing, tilting his head slightly, almost as if he were listening for something.

“Things such as searching for the tesseract, try to figure out how to reverse the mind control from your friends, or, maybe you should be checking on Banner?”

Tony froze up, the thoughts in his mind coming to a screeching halt.

“What do you mean, ‘check on Banner’? He’s with the other Avengers, he’s safe,” Tony said, panic slowly filling his voice.

Loki smiled, a sharp, dangerous smile, slowly turning to face Tony, “Are you sure about that, Mr Stark?”

Tony took a few steps back as if he had been struck, before telling JARVIS to get the Avengers on the line. He almost cried in relief when he heard Natasha’s voice in his ear, asking him if everything was ok.

“Natasha, I don’t have time, I need to know if Bruce is still with you.”

Tony heard her pause for a second at the odd question, but she quickly answered, “No, he left about 5 minutes ago to go check on the program tracking the tesseract, Tony, what’s this about? Is everything ok?”

Tony’s could feel the edges of a panic attack starting to seep in, and he tried to push it down, tried to stay calm, “Natasha you need to listen to me,” he said, his voice leaving no room for argument. He waited until he heard her agree to continue, “You need to find Bruce now, and make sure he’s ok.”

“Tony what’s going on?Can you please explain to me-”

“Natasha I don’t have time,” Tony hissed, fist clenching at his side. He could hear Loki quietly laughing behind him, and he just wished he would shut up, he wished he would just shut up for one fucking second.

“Natasha, you need to go now, you have to trust me on this, please. For Bruce.”

Tony could heart his heart beating way faster than it was probably supposed to, but all he could do was slump with relief when Natasha finally spoke up.

“Alright, I’ll update you once I’m with him,” and with that, she hung up. Tony took a few deep breaths, getting his racing heart under control, before turning and facing the cell.

He opened his mouth to speak, to let Loki know that he wasn’t going to get Bruce, that they had gotten to him on time, but Tony paused. They wouldn’t have gotten to Bruce at all if it weren’t for-

If it weren’t for Loki.

Tony furrowed his eyebrows, confusion settling over his features, thoughts racing through his mind at a mile a minute, when suddenly, coming to a realisation, he stared at the god in the cell, speaking up.

“You’re telling us what you’re doing, before you do it.”

Loki startled slightly, not expecting Tony to speak, but he quickly covered his surprised with a scoff, crossing his arms over his chest, “I beg your pardon?”

Tony shrugged, starting to pace outside of the cell, watching Loki as he moved, “It’s just an observation. I mean, the entire time you’ve been on Earth, you’ve basically broadcasted you’re every move, you made sure that we were able to figure out what you were going to do, and when you were going to do it.

Now, I’ve never been a supervillain, but if I were one, I probably wouldn’t want the people I was fighting to know my ‘super secret evil plan’, but that’s just me,” Tony stopped abruptly, staring at Loki, taking in his haggard, almost sickly appearance.

“You didn’t have to say anything about Bruce. You could’ve kept your mouth shut, and you could’ve done whatever you were planning on doing to him without interference, but now we know, and Natasha’s on her way over to him right now, so I just don’t get it. Why say anything at all?

That’s all you’ve been doing this entire time it’s almost like you’ve been,” Tony stopped, everything falling into place, all of Loki’s messages, the hidden meanings, it all finally made sense.

“You’ve been warning us.”

Tony could see Loki tense, every inch of him freezing up, his chest barely rising with his soft breaths.

“What are you trying to tell us? You can end this, here and now, we can protect you, we can fix this, we can-”

“You can do no such thing,” Loki spat, seeming to have come out of his momentary freeze, voice filled with malice, “You assume you can fix everything you touch, but you are not as smart as you think, Tony Stark, so I would suggest you act like it.”

Tony looked at the god, really looked at him, and he could see the careful way he held himself, the way his shoulders dropped slightly in exhaustion, the way his hands never really stopped shaking.

The unanswered question of what happened to his eyes.

Tony wasn’t really sure what he was going to say, what he was going to offer the man, but he knew he had to try.

“Loki, look, we can figure this out together, we can help you, you just need to give us something to work with, something-” he was interrupted by Natasha’s voice in his ear.

“Tony,” she said, her voice slightly breathless, “We got him.”

“Got who? Who did you get?”

“Clint,” Natasha said, unable to keep the smile from her voice, “We got him back, we reversed the mind control.”

Tony ran out of the containment room, his question left forever unanswered.

* * *

The Avengers met in the conference room, Clint Barton joining them at the table this time. He had been introduced to Thor, before stating that they had already met and were “best bros”. 

Thor then asked him to repeat his name.  
It was a moment Tony wouldn’t let Clint forget, and Clint would try his hardest not to remember, but everyone had calmed down and was currently seated at the table, a tense silence had fallen over the group.

“So,” Tony started, playing with the fabric of his pants, “I think I found out some useful information while talking with our resident psycho.”

Clint twitched at the mention of Loki, but remained silent, Nat placed a hand on his thigh, gently squeezing it for reassurance, he gave her a tight smile and nodded to Tony.

“What news do you have of my brother?” Thor asked, staring at Tony, and wow did he have some intense eyes.

Tony took a breath before speaking, “I think everything Loki has done so far has been a warning.”

At the sound of protest, Tony waved his hand in a shushing motion, calming everyone to try and explain, “What I mean by that is, well, what if Loki wasn’t the one calling the shots?”

Steve’s eyebrows furrowed, his eyes focusing on the table in front of him, “You mean like, somebody else could be controlling him?”

Tony shrugged, “Why not? He had to get those scars somewhere, and apparently he didn’t get them on Asgard. This guy falls through some void, disappears for 2 or so years, and shows up here, hell bent or ruling, eyes burnt to shit, and acting as if he doesn’t really want to succeed at this whole ‘invade Earth’ plan.” 

“But those are just theories Tony,” Natasha said, leaning forward, resting her arms on the table, “We need actual evidence. This is a pretty deep theory.”

Tony waved his hand in the air, sighing, “Have you looked at the guy? And i mean, looked at him. He looks exhausted, and the ‘I haven’t slept in months’ type of exhausted that people get when they’re scared of something, and from the way he’s acting, it’s something big.”

“He also shows signs of past injury,” Bruce said quietly, causing everyone to turn and look at him. He shrugged, adjusting his glasses and continuing on, “I mean, just, the way he acts around people. When I was working as an actual doctor, I had seen plenty of abuse victims, and they all had similar reactions to people. Once you get hurt enough, you assume everyone is going to hurt you.”

The group went silent, contemplating the new evidence brought up, before Natasha spoke up, “That’s still not proof of any real manipulation, it’s just speculation. We can’t confirm any of these theories.”

Clint looked up and quietly said, “Actually, we can.”

Everyone turned to look at him, and he shrunk back at the sudden attention.

“What do you mean, Sir Barton? There is no proof my brother is being manipulated, we have nothing,” Thor said, his shoulders slumping.

Clint took a deep breath before speaking, trying not to break down in front of the other Avengers, “While I was under Loki’s, control, he could see into my head, but I don’t think the, I guess link, between our brains worked exactly the way he wanted it to.”

“What are you saying Clint?” Steve asked, looking at him with concern.

“What I’m saying is,” he took a deep breath, “The connection went both ways. He saw into my mind, and I saw into his. And I’ll spare you the details, but what I saw was enough to give me nightmares, and they weren’t even my memories.”

The room fell into silence, no one quite sure what to say, when suddenly, JARVIS’s voice filled the room.

“So sorry to interrupt, I just thought you would like to be informed of Mr Laufeyson’s escape.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry it took so long to get this update out! It just took me a while with exams, and school, and affhffdjndjf, I'm just really sorry! I'm also sorry for any mistakes in this, there isn't any beta reading this story, so like, it's probably full of mistakes, bls don't judge me too hard.
> 
> Yes I did change the chapter count from 2 to 3, and that's because it turns out my plan for this fic ended up being a l o t longer than I thought it was going to be, so, sorry about that!
> 
> I will do my best to get the next chapter out faster, I'm sorry if it takes me a while again
> 
> Leave a like and/or kudos if you like the story!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle begins, but what happens when the Avengers find an unexpected player fighting alongside them?
> 
> A nice happy ending

They were everywhere. Swarming the streets, taking over the skies, killing civilians left right and centre. The Avengers watched the aliens pour out of a portal that had been opened above New York, and they did what they did best.

They fought.

It seemed as if the swarms of aliens were never ending, they knocked one down and 2 more would take its place. But throughout the haze, Tony had cried out into the comms, “I found Selvig unconscious on top of Stark Tower. He seems fine, just asleep.”

Everyone had paused at that, wondering why Selvig had been left there, wondering where Loki was. But there were more Chitauri coming and the thought was pushed from their minds.

Thor couldn’t help but feel as if he was being watched throughout the battle. He would turn, feeling eyes on his back, to see only bodies and ruble. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw it.

The briefest flash of green.

Thor couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, knowing his brother was still out there, knowing he hadn’t perished in the invasion. Even if he was still committing mischief, he was alive, and that was all that mattered.

That’s what Thor told himself.

As the battle raged on, it wasn’t only Thor, but the other Avengers (minus the Hulk) who noticed there was an extra player on the field.

Steve had been giving it all he had, his shield only taking out so many at a time. He watched as his shield lodged itself in a Chitauri’s chest, dropping with the alien, as more swarmed on him.

There was only so much he could do without a weapon, and the aliens only kept coming. He could feel himself tire, overwhelmed by the amount of enemies surrounding him, he was panicking, swinging wildly, hoping his punches landed, there wasn’t much more he could do, he felt himself being pulled down, when suddenly-

In a flash of green, the aliens had been thrown off of him, their bodies littering the ground. Steven knelt, catching his breath, searching for the source of the light. He saw a dead stare watching him from the side, Loki’s gaze settled just to the side of him, as it always was.

Steve saw Loki smirk slightly in his direction, before disappearing.

“Thanks, I guess?” Steve said, speaking to the empty air. He waited for one more moment, before grabbing his shield from where it laid in the enemies body, running back out onto the field, continuing the fight.

“Fuck, these guys are everywhere, aren’t they?” Tony asked into the comms, not particularly expecting a reply, but deciding to share his thoughts anyways. They were good thoughts and deserved to be shared.

Tony was flying through the air, weaving through the streets of New York, watching the battle unfold beneath him. It really was a grade A shit show.

Tony had been so focused on watching Thor zapping a few of the Chint-ass-ies or whatever the fuck they were called, he barely noticed the giant warship heading straight toward him. He swerved just before crashing headfirst into it, thanks to JARVIS’ voice telling him he might want to think about turning soon, unless he would rather risk irreparable damage to his face.

Thank god for JARVIS.

That did leave Tony with a slight problem, the alien warship flying around the skies of New York. But it was fine, he could handle it. Probably.

“Alright JARVIS,” Tony said, circling back around, flying towards the alien ship, currently wrecking absolute havoc on his hometown, which, rude, “Let’s kick some alien ass.” 

“Of Course Sir,” came JARVIS’ reply, and Tony couldn’t help but smile.

Tony had planned on flying in, shooting the ship with some of his blasters, watching ti explode, and calling it a job well done.

He certainly hadn’t planned on it absorbing his blasts and firing them back at him.

Tony swore loudly, dodging the blasts (his blasts) circling the ship, searching for any kind of weak point. 

There weren’t any that he could see.

Suddenly, tons of smaller ships were released from the mothership, starting to swarm the skies of the city streets, and wasn’t that fan-freaking-tastic.

Tony tried to shoot the smaller ships, but god damn if they weren’t fast little fuckers, zooming around on their, whatever it was they were riding.

He let out a shout, blaster halting, as one of the ships guns hit him in the shoulder, leaving a trail of smoke billowing out of the mark left of the suit.

That definitely wasn’t good.

Before Tony could do anything in retaliation, he watched as there was a flash of green, and a ship went tumbling towards the street below, a thick trail of smoke following. Multiple flashes of green, followed by each ship following the fate of the first, before all that remained was the mothership, the Big Mama as Tony would like to call it.

He turned midair, looking at the ship, only to find a figure standing on top of it, hands faintly glowing.

JARVIS zoomed in for him, and after getting a closer look, Tony could identify the mystery hero as Loki. 

So more of a mystery anti-hero, but hey, he’ll take what he can get.

Loki waved his hand slightly, either in a gesture of acknowledgement or some magical voodoo bullshit, before disappearing.

Minutes later, the mothership exploded, and Loki was nowhere to be seen. Tony couldn’t help but smile.

Clint and Natasha had to agree, that this was absolutely nothing like Budapest.

They were fighting back to back, a swarm of Chitauri soldiers surrounding them on all sides, Clint firing his bow as fast as he could, and Nat switching between her pistols and hand to hand combat.

After her pistol had run out of ammo, she had grabbed one of the Chitauri weapons off of their corpse, and started firing. Clint couldn’t help but feel a warm sense of pride and respect swell up in his chest.

But no matter how hard they fought, the Chitauri still kept swarming in, and there were still only two of them. Clint was running low on ammo, and he was looking around for the closest gun he could use when that inevitably happened, but his thoughts were cut short when a scream pierced the air.

Natasha.

“NAT,” he screamed, searching for her through the swarm of aliens, not pausing to put an arrow through any alien that came near him.

Then he saw her, clutching a heavily bleeding wound on her arm, still trying to keep the Chitauri back. Clint rushed to her, shooting any Chitauri that had tried to get near her, before going to inspect her wound.

It was deep, and it didn’t look like it was going to stop bleeding any time soon. Clint turned, ciring off the last of his arrows, killing the newest Chitauri closing in on them, before quickly ripping a strip of his shirt off and tying it around her arm. It wasn’t much, but it would do for now.

He saw Nat try to pick up the gun she had previously dropped, but she winced when trying to lift it, so Clint grabbed it, turning to try and kill the incoming Chitauri.

Looking at the amount of them coming towards them, he knew there was no way he could do it on his own. They had barely been able to do it with both of them, and now Nat was out of the field, until they could properly bandage her arm, or at least until she could grab a gun without her arm spasming from pain.

Clint tried, he did. But there were too many, and he saw the moment they closed in, saw the moment it became too much for him alone, saw the moment it wasn’t worth it to keep trying.

But then, there were cut off screams, coming from the aliens surrounding them, and looking around, Clint could see knives lodging themselves into the Chitauri, the aliens dropping one by one, until there are none left.

Clint surveys the area, and all he catches is a glint of green, before it’s gone in a flash, almost as if it had never been there at all.

Clint whispers a silent prayer, before turning and tending to Nat’s arm, telling her it will be alright, everything was gonna be ok.

* * *

Loki knew the portal had to be closed, or else the Chitauri wouldn’t stop coming, and the Avengers would fall one by one, and Th-He would win.

He had planned on Selvig closing the portal once the mind control was removed, but Selvig was out cold, and wouldn’t be waking up in the foreseeable future, so Loki made his way from the battlefield to the top of Stark Tower, preparing for what he would have to do, preparing for the consequences.

He appeared on top of the building, his magic sensing the layout of the rooftop, the power of the tesseract drawing him ever closer.

He gripped the scepter, stumbling toward the device, hand held out in front of him. He felt his hand meet soldi metal, and felt the tesseract, heard it singing, and knew this was what he was looking for.

Taking a deep breath, Loki gripped the scepter tighter, before taking a blind (ha) swing, knocking the tesseract from where it rested in the device.

He could feel the portal close, the energy in the atmosphere shifting, and he felt in his mind, the Other trying to force himself into his mind. Loki resisted, stumbling towards where he hoped the stairs were.

Loki could hear the beast raining destruction outside on the city and the remaining aliens running rampant in the streets, and that was exactly what he needed right now.

He sent out a simple light projection, to where he had assumed to beast was, based on what he could hear, hoping to draw the beast to the tower. All he needed was one good hit, one punch and it would all be over-

He heard the slamming of the beast, bricks crumpling,a roar echoing throughout the city, and all Loki could do was smile in relief. 

He closed his eyes, not that it made any difference, and waited for the beast to arrive. He stood perfectly still in the middle of what he could only guess to be Starks lounge, but it could be any room in Starks home. Loki truly had no way of telling, not with his magic as depleted as it was currently.

The glass suddenly shattered, the floor shook, and he felt himself being grabbed around the waist, then he was slammed into the floor of Stark’s Tower, and everything went quiet.

* * *

He woke up to the sound of beeping, and the pitch black he had grown to know as his world. His magic scanned the room, and sensed 6 other presences with him, and Loki could feel himself automatically tense up, unaware of who they were or where he was.

The next thing he noticed, was the lack of pressure on his mind, there was no pain, no other presence forcing itself into his head, into his thoughts, It was just him. 

He wanted to weep at the prospect.

Loki was fairly certain he did weep, because it was at that moment he felt a hand on his arm and a voice speaking quietly, asking him if he was ‘with them’.

He couldn’t help but flinch back from the contact, and the hand respectively pulled away, Loki silently thanked whoever it was for that, and he tried to focus on what they were saying.

“-ki? Loki, can you hear me? Are you awake?”

He nodded, not trusting his throat at that moment, a dry, scratchy feeling making itself present at that very moment.

“That’s good,” the voice said, which sounded like, Banner? But that wasn’t right, Banner was his enemy, he wouldn’t help him, he would lock Loki up, because he did try to invade Midgard, no matter the circumstances, and-

“Loki, can you try and slow your breathing down for me? Just like that, you’re doing great.”

Oh, he hadn’t even realised. How embarrassing. He focused on evening out his breaths, taking in deep, even breaths, like his mother had taught him, all those years ago.

After a few minutes of him getting his breathing under control, Banner spoke up again, “Can we get you anything? Some water maybe?”

“Why?” Loki asked, ignoring his question, despite how badly he wanted to accept the water, he knew better. They would only use it as leverage. Everything always comes with a price.

“Why, what?” Bruce asked, concern leaking into his voice.

“Why help me,” Loki rasped, his throat was killing him, but he pushed on, “I am your enemy, I attempted to enslave your planet, I killed people, surely you cannot just forgive me-”

A new voice had cut him off, the Lady Natasha if he was not mistaken, his memories of the invasion were still hazy, “Yes, you killed people. And yes, it was you who had showed up here, speaking up conquering Earth for some ‘glorious purpose’.

But it was also you who had shown up here, eyes scarred, blind, and according to Clint, under just as much influence as he was, if not more.” Loki was quiet, unsure of what to say to that.

“So,” she continued, “It’s obvious that you didn’t want to do any of this, and, if Clint isn’t responsible for the harm he did while being controlled, why should you be?” She finished, taking a step back.

The Captain cleared his throat, before speaking up, “You hurt a lot of people Loki, you did a lot of damage, and that’s pretty bad, yeah,” Loki couldn’t help but cover his face with his arm at that, hating at hearing the destruction he caused, no matter what had happened to before, it was still him.

The Captain continued, “But that doesn’t mean you can’t help fix everything, or you can’t fix what happened to you, as best as you can. None of us really know what happened, but obviously nothing good. You can stay here Loki, and help us, help the Avengers, and we can help you in return.”

Loki felt a hand grab his, and he heard a voice he never thought he’d hear again speak from right beside him, “Brother, please, we can make this right, together.”

Loki closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, before smiling, and letting out a shaky breath.

“Yeah,” he whispered, “Together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo im so sorry bfsjerjn this is so fucking late and i have no excuse???
> 
> but like, here it is, I wrote most of it all at once bc I got sudden Inspiration, and just started writing and couldn't stop, so, that happened, and here it is!
> 
> I really hope you like the ending to the story, I wasn't really sure how I wanted to end this, and this was the best I could make, so I hope it's not too bad
> 
> I'd really appreciate a kudos/comment and let me know what you thought of the story! I have more ideas that I wanna write, I just have no idea when I'll get around to writing them

**Author's Note:**

> I was gonna make this a oneshot, but it was taking too long, so I decided to split it up and give it chapters. I did write this for Lise who writes amazing fics, and she said on her tumblr she wanted more Loki whump so, here ya go. 
> 
> my tumblr is wrevengers if ur interested, i mainly just reblog stuff
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Leave a commented and/or a kudos to let me know!


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